I know jack about bands and chains. I've learned a lot from this video. SKWAT!

Thanks.

P.S. Where'd you get the shirt? I think I want one.

07-21-2007, 07:36 AM

Sensei

Thanks Chris. I had that shirt made.

07-21-2007, 09:54 AM

nddillon

Let me just say that I love your videos and have made people watch them countless times instead of giving them advice on their technique. . . but, would you consider a deadlift video? And if you already have done one don't yell at me!

07-21-2007, 11:29 AM

bjohnso

Where do you get chains and bands?

07-21-2007, 12:20 PM

North

Nice video sensei, how many of these are you making? Are you going to do some about other lifts? I think it would be cool to do it on deadlifts

07-21-2007, 03:00 PM

Sensei

Guys,
I won't be doing DL videos unless I get some friends to help me make them - like I've said before I just haven't studied the DL enough. I don't consider myself much of a squatter, but I've been doing it a long time and have spent a lot of time studying and practicing.

bjohnso,
I get my chains and bands from elitefts.com Great stuff there.

07-21-2007, 11:00 PM

bigmoney

Sensei, great stuff on all these videos man. Its these little things that you bring up in your videos (especially the lying glute stretch!) that really have helped me the most.
I have a question and you seem to be qualified to have some sort of valid response... When descending into a wide stance squat, when I push my knees out hard I get tremendous pressure on the outside of my knee (near the IT band). This can usually be fixed by about 30 minutes worth of various dynamic and static stretching, but if I'm not warmed up it hurts for me to even push my knees out doing BW squats.
For instance, when I do the "butterfly" groin stretch, I feel alot of pressure/some pain on the area near the lateral collateral ligaments. I have what I believe to be arthritis in my knees (hince grinding of my knees).

Just wondering what your thoughts on this was. Sure I could see a orthopedist, but I only really have pain doing this certain time. Thanks alot for your time and keep up the awsome work!

07-21-2007, 11:14 PM

Chris686

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

Sensei, great stuff on all these videos man. Its these little things that you bring up in your videos

I agree. The little things are really the hardest to see and correct, but visually seeing the common errors makes it a whole helluva lot easier.

I've been squatting for a while, and it's my favorite lift, so I do it multiple times per week. I think my squat form is great, but I've still learned a few little things from these videos which has helped overall.

Come to think of it, I've been getting my little brother into the gym recently, so I'll get him to watch these videos. I think it'd help him dramatically. I actually found myself quoting these videos yesterday when I was showing him how to squat correctly.

Sensei, have you considered making a master list of all your videos in one topic?

07-22-2007, 12:07 AM

Sensei

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

Sensei, great stuff on all these videos man. Its these little things that you bring up in your videos (especially the lying glute stretch!) that really have helped me the most.
I have a question and you seem to be qualified to have some sort of valid response... When descending into a wide stance squat, when I push my knees out hard I get tremendous pressure on the outside of my knee (near the IT band). This can usually be fixed by about 30 minutes worth of various dynamic and static stretching, but if I'm not warmed up it hurts for me to even push my knees out doing BW squats.
For instance, when I do the "butterfly" groin stretch, I feel alot of pressure/some pain on the area near the lateral collateral ligaments. I have what I believe to be arthritis in my knees (hince grinding of my knees).

Just wondering what your thoughts on this was. Sure I could see a orthopedist, but I only really have pain doing this certain time. Thanks alot for your time and keep up the awsome work!

Let me preface this by saying that if you have knee issues, you really should see a doc for a professional opinion.

Here's my thoughts:
In one of squat rx videos I think I said "The legs should be externally rotated to engage the hips and hamstrings". What I meant to say is that the HIPS should be externally rotated. The knees bowing outward could be just as bad as bowing inward. Don't think of pushing the knees out - the knees should be tracking in line with the toes and if the hips are engaged (and strong enough) the knees shouldn't bow inward.

Anyway, not seeing you squat, it's tough to give an opinion... How "wide" do you squat? Do you keep your weight on your heels? Do your knees bow outward or inward as you squat? How are your feet positioned? What kind of shoes do you wear? Do you have any other hip/hamstring/shoulder/lower back issues?

07-22-2007, 12:12 AM

Sensei

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chris686

Come to think of it, I've been getting my little brother into the gym recently, so I'll get him to watch these videos. I think it'd help him dramatically. I actually found myself quoting these videos yesterday when I was showing him how to squat correctly.

What did you quote? I hope it was worthwhile...

Quote:

Sensei, have you considered making a master list of all your videos in one topic?

I did and will when I put up another - I agree that all these threads start to get to be a bit much. edit - actually, I realized that I have all of the links consolidated in pics&vids forum.

07-22-2007, 11:53 AM

bigmoney

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sensei

Let me preface this by saying that if you have knee issues, you really should see a doc for a professional opinion.

Here's my thoughts:
In one of squat rx videos I think I said "The legs should be externally rotated to engage the hips and hamstrings". What I meant to say is that the HIPS should be externally rotated. The knees bowing outward could be just as bad as bowing inward. Don't think of pushing the knees out - the knees should be tracking in line with the toes and if the hips are engaged (and strong enough) the knees shouldn't bow inward.

Anyway, not seeing you squat, it's tough to give an opinion... How "wide" do you squat? Do you keep your weight on your heels? Do your knees bow outward or inward as you squat? How are your feet positioned? What kind of shoes do you wear? Do you have any other hip/hamstring/shoulder/lower back issues?

Thanks for the response Sensei.
I squat fairly wide...about a 10-12 inches wider than shoulder width. I keep weight on my heels, hips back, shins perpendicular to the floor. Now that I think about it, I may actually be agressively pushing my knees out too hard.

I know the purpose of knees out is to engage the hips, but could you also say it is to mainly prevent the knees coming inward? If so, I may be pushing too hard because I notice sometimes I may push my knees outside the line of my foot...meaning my knee is not directly above my foot, instead it is on the outside of it. I will try rotating my foot to about a 45 degree angle so I get better tracking in regards to foot and knee positions.

Also, could you explain what you meant by "What I meant to say is that the HIPS should be externally rotated". From my limited understanding, it seems to me that in order for the hips to be externally rotated, the legs and/or knees would have to be externally rotated.

Finally, I wear plain ole' Chucks, and I have not had any other hip/ham issues (except for limited flexibility..which I am working on.)

07-22-2007, 07:52 PM

Sensei

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

Thanks for the response Sensei.
I squat fairly wide...about a 10-12 inches wider than shoulder width. I keep weight on my heels, hips back, shins perpendicular to the floor. Now that I think about it, I may actually be agressively pushing my knees out too hard.

I think this may be part of the problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

I know the purpose of knees out is to engage the hips, but could you also say it is to mainly prevent the knees coming inward? If so, I may be pushing too hard because I notice sometimes I may push my knees outside the line of my foot...meaning my knee is not directly above my foot, instead it is on the outside of it. I will try rotating my foot to about a 45 degree angle so I get better tracking in regards to foot and knee positions.

I think these are definately things to try. If your knees are tracking out of line with the foot, you should definately consider a change of stance and/or foot position.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

Also, could you explain what you meant by "What I meant to say is that the HIPS should be externally rotated". From my limited understanding, it seems to me that in order for the hips to be externally rotated, the legs and/or knees would have to be externally rotated.

Yes, that's correct, hip and leg rotation are the same. I'm no kinesiologist, but I worry that if someone is trying to rotate the legs outward when squatting, they will bow the legs outward without repositioning the feet or stance.

Quote:

Originally Posted by bigmoney

Finally, I wear plain ole' Chucks, and I have not had any other hip/ham issues (except for limited flexibility..which I am working on.)

If flexibility is an issue, you might bring in your stance just a little for a while and see how that goes. An inch could make all the difference. Drop the weight a little and give yourself time to acclimate to the new stance.

07-23-2007, 06:41 PM

VikingWarlord

These videos are great. Training alone has its drawbacks but these should really help me fix the flexibility issues I've got. Thanks for your time and effort putting these together.

07-23-2007, 09:36 PM

Chris686

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sensei

What did you quote? I hope it was worthwhile...

Well, he seemed to have decent squat form for only squatting a few times in his life, but he was GM'ing out of a squat.